A $13.5 million gift from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the School of Veterinary Medicine will help fund new medical facilities at its New Bolton Center campus. The improvements to the George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals will include a new isolation building for the treatment of infectious disease, a colic barn for the treatment of horses with high-risk abdominal conditions, and a chemical digestion facility that uses a new technology for the safe and efficient disposal of infectious waste.

“As the only veterinary school in the state, we have been instrumental in developing a host of programs that serve public-health needs, from our statewide avian flu surveillance program to ongoing infectious disease monitoring,” said vet school Dean Joan Hendricks V’79 Gr’80. “We also offer the finest in 21st-century veterinary care to our patients; however, we are delivering those services in 20th-century facilities, which makes this generous gift most welcome.”

The hospital has received much press in recent months as the site where the injured champion racehorse Barbaro is being treated [“Something About Barbaro,” July/Aug]. At last report, the horse was in stable condition after suffering from severe laminitis in his left hind leg.